Jony Ive explain Apple’s design process

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Earlier this month, Apple chief designer Jony Ive appeared on stage for a rare interview during the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit. You can now watch the 25-minute-long interview on YouTube. Ive is characteristically deliberate with his words as he answers a number of questions posed by Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter. While Ive does let loose at one point, summarily criticising those who mimic his designs, most of the interview provides a simple but intriguing view into a man who often keeps far from the public eye.

Ive certainly doesn’t let loose any of Apple’s closely-guarded secrets, but he does reveal a few details about the design process. A small team of roughly 17 is involved in the company’s core industrial design efforts, and, as Ive proudly says, not a single person on that team has “voluntarily left” during his tenure. He also notes that the first product that caught his eye as a kid was an “extraordinarily, achingly beautiful” Braun kitchen mixer his parents had. “[I] had absolutely no interest in food mixing or cooking,” Ive adds, and “I didn’t really know what it did, but I somehow assumed it did it very well.” Jony, it’s nice to see that they let you out of that bright, white room every once and a while.